Utah's farewell tour

not seeing some of these schools every year now. Not that I’ll necessarily miss them, but it will be weird not playing them.

AIR FORCE:

The Falcons were a long thorn in our side due to their pesky option attack and their blocking scheme. In one I’m relieved to see them in the rear view mirror but at the same time I’m sure we’ll find someone in the Pac-10 that will give us headaches too. Even in our best years (03,04 and 08) these guys played us to the limit.

COLORADO STATE:

Once upon a time these guys proudly ruled the MWC. However, the contests have rarely been close. I know some people really tried to sell us on the idea we were rivals in a sense but it never really happened. II have a hard time seeing this program go anywhere for a couple of years just because their neighbors ; the Buffs will be going out west too.

NEW MEXICO

Like Air Force, these guys have also been a long thorn in our side. back in 03’ it was the Lobo’s that crushed our national ranking and was one of the few blemishes in Urban Meyers first year. We also had to deal with former coach Rocky Long’s wacky defense. This is one I’m not heartbroken to see end.

WYOMING

Ah yes, our Cowboy friends up south. I admit they’ve played us close a couple of times but for the most part we’ve had their number for most of the time. I still laugh to myself about the whole controversy with Joe Glenn giving us the bird, but other than that, I can’t say any of the games we played in the past we’re real memorable.

UNLV

This one has it’s up and downs as well but for the most part the UNLV/Utah rivalry was more basketball related than in football. They have the distinction of being arguably our darkest hour in recent history (the 27-0 shutout) but there was also the added spice of having former Ute OC Mike Sanford coaching them. (before he got canned)
  To this day I wonder what would have happened to the Utes if he didn’t bolt before the Fiesta Bowl and we lose K-Whitt to BYU. Needless to say I’m thankful we got the right man.
  
SAN DIEGO ST:

 Like several of our MWC neighbors this one was never close. It seems The Aztecs were always the team that could have accomplished something but always fell short. This isn’t entirely their fault however. having so many big name teams in California alone hurts their recruiting. All I can say is It’s gonna be a little weird to not play these guys right before BYU. (didn’t it seem these guys were our tuneup game before playing the guys in blue?)

TCU:

Ever since the Frogs joined the MWC in 05’ we’ve had a close rivalry with these guys. The fact is our biggest game prior to Alabama in 08’ was the blackout game. This game is gonna be huge this year because not only will this game most likely have conference (and possibly BCS) hopes on the line. We will have a bullseye on our chest since we’ll be gone next year. Of course there is also the revenge factor on the Utes side….Just saying. I hope this isn’t the last we see of these boys.

BYU

Yes, I saved the best for last. I know I’ve stated my opinion on the future of the Holy War before but I ‘ll do it again. I know this game will lose some luster but I really hope we continue to play these guys. This is the one team we can honestly say we truly hate. Rivalry’s is so much more about whats on the line in conference standings. It’s about state bragging rights (let’s face it our move to the Pac-10 means the USU game is dead). I agree with some critics that BYU has more to gain by the rivalry continuing but lets not forgot BYU is a team that looks good on the schedule. They are a constant top-25 power and beating them is no small feat. If indeed this is our last hurrah with Cougartown, it will be legendary. I hope we cream those arrogant zoobies just for Max Hall’s pussy comments.

It will be a big year for us, but I really hope we can go out with a bang.
MWC title in 2010! GO UTES!!!

Could you put the link of Utah’s Rivals.com ranking analysis on the main page. I’m too computer illiterate to do it myself.